Mastering Public Speaking

HOW TO COME UP WITH YOUR ICEBREAKER SPEECH   Icebreaker speech is like doing sports – the hardest thing is to get started. Even though I knew that my objective was to tell about myself, i t took me almost several weeks to come up with an idea what to talk about. It seems that introduction of yourself is the easiest and at the same time the most difficult topic. At the first glance, who knows ourselves better than we do? But on the other hand, there are so many stories and so many thoughts to share. So, where to start? I think it’s very important to look inside yourself and think of what do you want to reach with your speech. Do you want to make people laugh at the humorous story in your life? Or do you want to explain your point of view on one or another topic? Or maybe do you want to motivate people to do something they have never done before? There are tons of possibilities and you can choose any. But the key is you should identify yourself with the message you wa...

Being a new to any group of the people is never easy, no matter whether you talk to new friends, coworkers, or members of the club. Urge to be accepted, as well as, desire to become a part of the group that speak the same language, share most likely similar values, and have their own rules, make most of us a bit reserved in talking to others. I am not an exception. However, recently I became a new member of the Nuremberg Toastmasters Club , and right away I got fully absorbed not only in the interacting with people, but also in the public speaking. To be honest, it wasn’t really my choice at first. Simply not knowing how the club works and that there is a possibility to be a guest before you sign in, brought me to the situation when I took the Ah Counter role and delievered a mini speech at my very first meeting. I had no idea what to say and what other members expect from me. I bumbled, I forgot almost all words, and my legs were shaking uncontrollably. But somehow I got s...